Rid"i*cule (?), n. [F. ridicule, L. ridiculum a jest, fr. ridiculus. See Ridiculous.]
1.
An object of sport or laughter; a laughingstock; a laughing matter.
[Marlborough] was so miserably ignorant, that his deficiencies made him the ridicule of his contemporaries.
Buckle.
To the people . . . but a trifle, to the king but a ridicule.
Foxe.
2.
Remarks concerning a subject or a person designed to excite laughter with a degree of contempt; wit of that species which provokes contemptuous laughter; disparagement by making a person an object of laughter; banter; -- a term lighter than derision.
We have in great measure restricted the meaning of ridicule, which would properly extend over whole region of the ridiculous, -- the laughable, -- and we have narrowed it so that in common usage it mostly corresponds to "derision", which does indeed involve personal and offensive feelings.
Hare.
Safe from the bar, the pulpit, and the throne,
Yet touched and shamed by ridicule alone.
Pope.
3.
Quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness.
[Obs.]
To see the ridicule of this practice.
Addison.
Syn. -- Derision; banter; raillery; burlesque; mockery; irony; satire; sarcasm; gibe; jeer; sneer. -- Ridicule, Derision, Both words imply disapprobation; but ridicule usually signifies good-natured, fun-loving opposition without manifest malice, while derision is commonly bitter and scornful, and sometimes malignant.<-- ridicule is now usually malicious. RIbbing or kidding is good-natured -->
© Webster 1913.
Rid"i*cule, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ridiculed (?);p. pr. & vb. n. Ridiculing.]
To laugh at mockingly or disparagingly; to awaken ridicule toward or respecting.
I 've known the young, who ridiculed his rage.
Goldsmith.
Syn. -- To deride; banter; rally; burlesque; mock; satirize; lampoon. See Deride.
© Webster 1913.
Rid"i*cule (?), a. [F.]
Ridiculous.
[Obs.]
This action . . . became so ridicule.
Aubrey.
© Webster 1913.